While Covid numbers go down in the Big Rotten Apple, crime goes up. Why? Because viruses can’t vote in New York. Yet. Writer and doctor Janette Nesheiwat covers the subject.

Close

Nesheiwat: “The system continues to fail us. We are not safe anymore. Not even the members of the service. I know you were tired of these laws — especially the ones from the new DA. I hope he’s watching you speak through me right now.”

These are the words of slain NYPD Officer Rivera’s widow, Dominique Luzuriaga. Officer Rivera was laid to rest last week. His partner, Officer Mora was buried on Wednesday.

As a native New Yorker and a doctor on the front lines of COVID for the past two years, having taken care of over 21,000 COVID patients, I can tell you firsthand, the pandemic is not just COVID but there is a second plague.

The proof is in the data: COVID cases in NYC were down over 80 percent in early January. Today, crime rates are increasing: over 100,000 crime incidents were reported in NYC in 2021 — felony assaults, robbery, murder, and rape. Pharmacies and neighborhood stores are closing as brazen thieves continue
to steal knowing there will be no repercussions.

We have shootings in the Emergency Room lobby of a Bronx hospital, two young NYPD officers shot in the head and killed, innocent commuters pushed to their death on the underground subway. We now see more shootings with stolen guns in the hands of the mentally ill — the most dangerous threat to all of us.

I am fearful to walk down the street even in daytime. I have been chased in broad daylight, spit upon, and attacked and I have had patients randomly stabbed, sliced and shot without provocation.

Michelle Go was fatally shoved onto the subway tracks on January 15 by Simon Martial, a 61-year-old homeless ex-convict who was ordered to undergo a psych evaluation and whose sister had asked a hospital not to release him because of his history of violent behavior.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

Crime is killing our community faster than we can save it.  Law Enforcement deaths rose 55% in 2021 vs 2020. The number one killer of police officers was COVID but firearms accounted for a large proportion of deaths along with traffic related deaths.  Humanity and civility has crumbled. Crime is out of control and desperate times call for desperate measures.

We cannot succumb to the rhetoric of “defund the police.” Instead we must support those who protect us, those officers who wake up every morning risking their lives on a daily basis for us, to keep us safe We must back the blue, for if we do not, who will protect us when we need it. Who will protect your child or mom?

We cannot accept a slap on the wrist for armed burglary, it may be a burglary now, but next time a life may be lost. We are incentivizing crime and ushering in violence when we don’t hold criminals accountable for their actions. A murderer should never roam the streets.